Poll finds Canadian media too important to allow foreign control

Feb 13, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Toronto - Three in four (77%) Canadians
see domestic media companies as too important for cultural and security reasons
to allow them to be controlled by foreign interests, according to a new opinion
survey released this morning by the watchdog organization Friends of Canadian
Broadcasting.

This finding emerges amid reports that the federal
government will soon unveil plans to scrap or weaken laws that require domestic
ownership of Canadian media and telecommunications companies.

Canadians' broadly held negative opinion complicates the
federal government's search for a policy solution now that the Supreme Court is
considering the appropriateness of the federal government's decision to allow Globalive to operate a
wireless phone business in Canada even though the CRTC has previously ruled it
to be foreign controlled.

Recently, the Harper government has indicated it may allow
foreign companies to own and control Canadian telecommunications providers,
arguing it is possible to permit foreign ownership in this sector without
affecting the broadcasting sector.

However, the converged nature of the telecommunications and
broadcasting industries, with telephone companies owning broadcasters and cable
companies offering phone service, makes it impossible to open one sector to
foreign ownership and not the other, because they are direct competitors.

"The Harper government cannot gut foreign ownership
laws for telecom companies without their direct competitors in the cable
industry demanding equal treatment. Like cascading dominos, the private broadcasters
- which are now all owned by cable or phone companies - would follow suit and
soon, several generations of hard work to maintain our cultural sovereignty
through Canadian ownership and control of broadcasting would go down the
drain," Morrison said.

The survey found a
strong expectation that Canadian content on radio and TV would decrease if
foreign companies were permitted to control domestic media companies. This expectation has grown significantly
since this question was last posed in April 2010.

"Canadians have good reason to believe that foreign
companies will favour their own entertainment products over Canadian
options," Morrison said.

Noting that the government is forecasting cuts in excess of
$100 million to CBC, the predominant source of Canadian content on TV, Morrison
said: "allowing foreign interests to control our media would be a one-two punch
against Canadian content."

Heritage Minister James Moore has floated the idea of deep
cuts to the CBC, even though the Conservative Party promised to maintain or
increase CBC funding during the recent election campaign. On May 3rd, 2011, one day
after the election, Moore said:

"We
believe in the national public broadcaster. We have said that we will maintain
or increase support for the CBC. That is our platform and we have said that
before and we will commit to that."

"Among all broadcasters, the CBC is by far the largest
source of Canadian programming on television with a prime time TV schedule that
is 75% Canadian. Substantial cuts
to CBC's budget will mean fewer Canadian stories on TV," Morrison said.

On the question of CBC funding, the government will be
off-side with the views of Canadians if it proceeds with deep cuts. According to previously released data, the
CBC continues to be highly valued by most Canadians who by a wide majority
would advise their MP to maintain (46%) or increase (23%) funding to the
CBC.

The online survey of 2022 adult Canadians conducted from
November 4 to 10, 2011 has a margin of error of +/- 2.18%, 19 times out of
20. The survey was designed
and administered by political scientists Peter Loewen, Assistant Professor at
the University of Toronto and Daniel Rubenson, Associate Professor at Ryerson
University. Fieldwork for the poll was done by Vision Critical on the Angus
Reid Forum National Panel.

Friends of Canadian Broadcasting is an independent watchdog
for Canadian programming and is not affiliated with any broadcaster or
political party.